Huelva: The World No. 22 Loh Kean Yew of Singapore became the first Singaporean badminton player to ever win the BWF World Championships after defeating World No. 14 Kidambi Srikanth 21-15, 22-20 in the 2021 BWF World Championships final on Sunday.
Loh demonstrated strong attacks and impeccable defense to beat the former World No. 1 Indian player in 43 minutes.
In the final, the 24-year-old Singaporean showed he has the physique of a champion and his court coverage was fabulous. When Loh was leading at 19-18 in the second game, Srikanth launched four consecutive smashes towards Loh, and the last three smashes were near the net. Nevertheless, Loh stayed calm and was able to return all attacks from Srikanth, which ended up forcing Srikanth to commit a mistake by hitting shuttlecock into the net and giving Loh a 20-18 match-point lead in the second set.
The Singaporean, who came to Huelva, Spain, ranked 22th in the world, only dropped a set when he defeated World No. 1, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, in the first round, winning 14-21, 21-9, 21-6. He didn’t lose a single set playing a total of 5 additional matches after that.
“Now that I can finally tell you I am really happy, I don’t need to hold back. I am super super happy, thanks to the fans, behind the scene people, very thankful to them,” said Loh who was so delighted to be crowned the new world champion after the match.
(source: Badminton Europe)
Loh Kean Yew’s family in Penang, Malaysia, celebrate his victory at the 2021 BWF World Championships:
(source: The Straits Times)
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Singapore – Lee Hsien Loong also congratulated Loh for winning the World Championships.
Congratulations to Loh Kean Yew for winning the gold medal at this year’s @BWFmedia World Championships in Huelva, Spain! Looking forward to seeing what you will achieve next! 🇸🇬 – LHLhttps://t.co/JQpXruHkxq
— leehsienloong (@leehsienloong) December 19, 2021
In men’s doubles, Japan’s World No. 4 Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi continued their recent sizzling-hot run of form after making history for their country by winning Japan’s first-ever men’s doubles World’s title on Sunday. Hoki/Kobayashi defeated China’s World No. 24 He Ji Ting/Tan Qiang 21-12, 21-18 in the final.
Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi who finished silver after losing to Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan in the 2019 World Championships final, were excited about the victory.
“Even though I know not all the best men’s doubles players are here, but I am happy with our win,” said Hoki.
“I hope after this tournament, we can maintain our level,” added Hoki.
Men’s doubles medalists of the 2021 BWF World Championships:
(source: Badminton Europe)
